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George W. Sidebotham

Professor of Mechanical Engineering

A full time faculty member since 1989 (2 years in Mechanical, 12 years in Chemical, back to Mechanical since 2003), Prof. Sidebotham is committed first to undergraduate education and second to academic research, in-so-much as the latter can facilitate the former.  He received his PhD from Princeton University, where his area of specialty was fundamental investigations of combustion phenomena, specifically, to the formation of soot in laminar diffusion flames.  At Cooper, his classes are primarily in the thermal/fluids area, and he has begun writing textbooks based on his course notes developed over 20 years.  In research, he played an active role in investigating fire safety in operating room environments in collaboration with an anesthesiologist (Gerald Wolf).  12 Cooper Union students completed Masters Theses (and several High School internships and undergraduate projects) on this topic, and the work was published in several medical and engineering venues.  He is a co-inventor (with Greg Loibl, Masters student and Prof. Irv Brazinski) of the Cooper Cooling Process, whose patent and follow-up patents are owned by The Cooper Union, and 6 follow-up Masters thesis and approximately 100 undergraduate projects.  He co-founded a start-up company to exploit those patents with Greg Loibl (the principle entrepreneur).  Several commercial products have produced a net revenue stream for the Cooper Union and the product line is expanding.  A future goal is to create a Center for Energy Research at Cooper that will focus on developing, through project work, young talented professionals who will responsibly address present and future energy challenges.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.